As reported by MIT News, “Half a century ago, MIT played a critical role in the development of the flight software for NASA’s Apollo program, which landed humans on the moon for the first time in 1969. One of the many contributors to this effort was Margaret Hamilton, a computer scientist who led the Software Engineering Division of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, which in 1961 contracted with NASA to develop the Apollo program’s guidance system.” In celebration of Margaret’s 80th birthday, we’re sharing this 4-minute SciShow video, which gives an awesome overview of the life and work of the STEM pioneer, whose Apollo code ultimately saved the Apollo 11 astronauts from having to abort their historic moon landing.

Computer scientist Margaret Hamilton poses with the Apollo guidance software she and her team developed at MIT. Photo credit: MIT Museum

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